The Sociopath's Son
by ParadiseAvenger
Summary: Alternate Timeline Universe. "You're going to put me in the Null Void, aren't you?" After Devlin joins the Tennyson family, everyone considers Kevin Levin and the past. Would anything have changed had he accepted them like Devlin had? Mild Adult Themes.


I just watched the episode Ken 10 and it was so cute and sad at the same time. Poor Devlin and Kevin, you're stupid. I really like Ben 10's Alternate Timeline—it's just riddled with tempting angst and way too much fun so… I couldn't resist! I can never resist!

X X X

"_You're going to put me in the Null Void, aren't you?"_

_It was such a simple question, just eleven little words that were so innocent in another context, yet it shook the small group standing in the little area of ruin to their cores—great-grandpa Maxwell Tennyson, even the Hero of Heroes Ben 10,000, and the boy following in his father's footsteps, young Kenny Tennyson. For a moment, the trio just stood there, staring at the child of their oldest and greatest foe, unable to respond to his so innocent but so terribly broken question._

_Kenny was the first to break out of his stupor and dashed to close the space between his father, great-grandfather, and the boy he wanted to make his best friend. He threw out his arms protectively in front of Devlin Levin, staring down his father something fierce with his green eyes._

_This brought the two men out of their trance. Both smiled. _

_Ken relaxed just a little. Everything would be alright. His father was strong and kind-hearted, sometimes stupid, but great-grandpa Max was here to supply the wisdom that their family needed. Great-grandpa Max knew everything, after all. So, everything would work out for the best. Of that, Kenny was suddenly certain._

"_We could," Ben said lightly._

"_Or you could stay here with us and be a part of our family," Max suggested, smiling benignly at the two children._

"_If that works for you guys," Ben continued, a grin splitting his face._

_Devlin's deep blue eyes widened and Ken glanced over his shoulder at his friend, lowering his arms. Something passed between them, a camaraderie formed-fast and destined to hold-strong for life. Immediately, the two boys fist-bumped, exclaiming eagerly. Ben and Max could only smile, catching each other's gave and then both sets of eyes sliding to the small egg-shaped Null Void container that once again held Kevin 11,000. Not for the first time, Ben wondered how the Kevin Levin he had first befriended would have turned out if he had only accepted the same offer they had just given his son._

:::

~A few weeks later…

For Devlin Levin, becoming part of the Tennyson family was everything he ever could have hoped for and more.

Sure, the Tennysons had their issues, but it was nothing compared to the dysfunctional life he was used to. His father, Kevin, was a criminal trapped in the Null Void, obsessed only with destroying Ben and caring nothing for his child. His mother, Caroline, had thrown him out abruptly once she realized he had his father's freakish powers and he had never heard from her again. Since then, Devlin had been living alone on the streets of the city—stealing to eat, breaking into houses to sleep and bathe, scrambling to avoid the police and Ben alike, and sometimes thinking about freeing his father.

Truthfully, the Tennysons could have been a deadly cult and Devlin would have loved being with them anyway.

They were everything he had ever wanted and then some, issues and all.

Benjamin Tennyson aka Ben 10,000 was twice the man Kevin Levin ever would have been. He had survived a lot over the years, been hurt and betrayed, and yet he still had the biggest heart of anyone. He cared greatly for his son and daughter, his cousin, his grandfather, and anyone else that fell into his lap. A prime example was his willingness to adopt Devlin, the son of his enemy, into their little family. Sometimes, he was pig-headed and stupid, and he often over-protected his family, but even those qualities were lovable and meant with the best of intentions.

Kai Green, Ben's wife, she wasn't exactly a fantastic mother. Truth be told, she wasn't around very often so it was up to Ben and Grandpa Max to raise the family and deal with all their issues. (Something they handled quite well as Max had several generations of kids and grandkids under his belt.) Ben never directly told Devlin what Kai was doing, but Devlin had learned to keep his wits about him while he was living on the streets. He had a feeling that there was really no love lost between Kai and Ben and they were probably officially separated from each other, but they weren't ready to tell Kenny or young Gwen. (1)

Gwendolyn Tennyson, Ben's cousin, was a beautiful woman with thick ruby-red hair and a sweet open smile. Devlin hadn't met her personally yet because she was acting as an ambassador for Earth on a distant and no doubt hostile planet, but she called often and sent small gifts through her magic portals. Kenny talked about her often, Ben referred to her as his right hand, and great-grandpa Max always just smiled and shook his head as if knowing something no one else did. Devlin couldn't wait to meet her with how highly everyone spoke of her. He had a feeling she was a wonderful person.

Great-grandpa Max really lived up to his name. He was fantastic in every shape and syllable of the word and Devlin had a feeling the entire Tennyson family would fall apart without him. He had been the one to talk to Kai when she balked at the idea of taking in Kevin 11,000's son because Ben was just going to shout the argument onto its last legs. Max was also incredibly accepting and Devlin spent a lot of time in the fourth edition of the Rust Bucket just talking about the things he had gone through on the street. Max was a good listener.

Kenneth Tennyson, Junior, was Devlin's best friend. Since he had grown up having Ben and the Omnitrix so close in his life, nothing Devlin ever revealed about his powers ever surprised him. In fact, Kenny even had a little alien blood on his great-grandmother's side—an energy being from Anodyne. Kenny never looked at Kevin as if he was a freak. In fact, he told everyone who even thought about that word that if Devlin was a freak, then so was he! He wanted Devlin as his brother and that was that.

Gwendolyn Tennyson, Junior, had been unsure of Devlin at first. She loved stories and often got her father and great-grandfather regaling old war stories. In most those stories, the villains were tied between Vilgax and Kevin Levin so what was she to think about Kevin's son joining their family? But it didn't take long for Devlin to win her over—all it took was a little conversation and understanding. Gwen, like her honorable Aunt Gwendolyn before her, was a lot more mature and understanding than Kenny gave her credit for. Now, Devlin had a sister, too.

Devlin sighed as he curled up on his bed, wrapping himself tightly in the covers.

_Ah, a bed. _

It was one of life's simpler pleasures and a pleasure he had only known on a few rare occasion when he broke into someone's empty house to eat, bathe, and sleep in their borrowed bed, just like Goldilocks only he never got caught. He sighed again, pressing his cheek into the soft pillow and inhaling.

It smelled like Ben in here. Just last night, Ben had come into Devlin's room. Devlin, unsure of what was happening, had feigned sleep, holding his breath. Ben simply pulled the covers up around the boy's sleeping form, fluffed the pillow a little, and left. He was just checking in, making sure everyone was safe and warm enough and, in Kenny's case, not sleeping on the floor having rolled out of bed.

It was unreal how much Be cared—positively unreal.

Whimpering, Devlin pressed his hand over the old wound on his thigh, the wound he kept bandaged inside and out.

Three times, he had freed his father.

Three times, he had been betrayed.

The first time, Kevin had demanded he take him somewhere safe to eat and sleep. Devlin had been living under the bridge at the time, keeping warm by a nearby steam vent, and had no food to speak of. Enraged, Kevin dragged him off on a robbery of a small convenience store, slaughtering the owner and leaving before that Hero of Heroes could arrive and throw him back in the Null Void. That was the first time Devlin realized what his father was truly capable and he was a little bit afraid, but Kevin was his dad. He wouldn't hurt him, would he? When he woke the next morning, Kevin was gone and he saw on the news that Ben 10,000 had thrown him back into prison after he had attempted to rob the bank, killing four more people and injuring at least fifteen others.

The second time, it was even worse. Kevin came out of the Null Void in a rage, spitting and snarling like a wild beast. Devlin was older then and when his father attacked a young woman with flame-red hair and stripped her naked, Devlin tried to stop him. It was then that he got the wound on his thigh—his father had slashed him with his claws, throwing his son away like garbage while he plowed into the girl's small body. Her terror-filled pain-lanced face still came to Devlin in his nightmares and he wondered if that was how he had been conceived, too. The next day, sneaking away, Devlin placed an anonymous tip to the police about the poor girl, still breathing and alive in the alley where Kevin had left her to die. Ben responded, found Kevin, and once again threw Kevin 11,000 back where he belonged.

The third and final time, Devlin used Ben's son to get to the Null Void projector inside Tennyson headquarters and free his father. When Kevin came out, Devlin realized once and for all that he had no desire to ever be with him or even pretended to care anymore. Kevin cared only for the destruction of Ben and his family, but Kenny didn't deserve that. Devlin even tried to stop Kevin, but he was once again tossed away. Shattered, he abandoned his ideals of ever having a happy family and fought his father at Kenny's side, but Kevin was too tough. When Kevin hurt Kenny, Ben lost it and Devlin saw what a father was supposed to be like. Fathers were supposed to protect you and his father had only ever hurt him. This time, when Kevin went back to the Null Void, he wasn't getting out again, not with Devlin's help.

Devlin hunkered beneath the covers, smiling faintly.

So, he had lost his real father, but he had gained a whole lot more. He had Ben as his father and Kenny as his best friend and brother and even Gwen as his kind sister. For the first time in his life, he had a bed and a roof over his head. He didn't have to steal to eat or hurt people anymore. He finally had a family and he was never going to let anything or anyone threaten them, not even Kevin 11,000. That man was not his father anymore and Devlin was not his son.

…

Max spent most of his time in Rust Bucket Number Four in one of the lower levels of Ben 10,000's headquarters. Ben might be happy with the fancy-smancy facility, but Max still considered the Rust Bucket to have all the comforts of home. He and the old gal had been together forever, even though she had gone through more metamorphosises than a butterfly any day of the week. Sighing, Max reclined in his favorite chair, his head whirling back into thoughts of the past, the present, and the future. He was old so he had a lot of time to think, especially with Ben rarely in need of his help to fight crime.

In the past, he and Ben had asked Kevin to join their family and Kevin declined. Now, Kevin was a monster hell-bent on destroying Ben and his family.

In the present, Kevin's son was joining their family. Did this mean that somehow this was all meant to be? That somehow the Levins and the Tennysons had to get along?

In the future, Max could only wonder what would happen.

Devlin was such a sweet kid, so honest and broken, the opposite of everything his sociopathic father was. The kid had been through hell and back, both at his monstrous father's hands and at his human mother's. Then, being an alien freak, he had been tossed around on the sea of life, too. Devlin had been roughed up, yet somehow he was still a good kid.

Often, he came down to the Rust Bucket, always knocking politely and waiting to be let in. Then, he would sit at the table across from Max and just talk to him He had a lot of baggage in his heart, weighing him down. Max had seen a lot, but he had never seen such eyes on a kid. Devlin's blue eyes were dark and hurt. He had been betrayed by his father, had never had a home or known a mother's love, had never even had a bed of his own… It was horrible to think about.

Devlin had said once and never would Max forget it as long as he lived, "Mr. Tennyson?"

Max had smiled. "Call me Great-grandpa," was all he had said, expecting Devlin to call him that and that would be that, but it meant far more to Devlin than he had ever realized.

"Really?" Devlin had whispered, his pale face lighting up.

"Of course," Max had told him, curious. "Why? Don't you want to?"

Devlin eagerly said, "No, no! I'd love to it's just… I've never had a grandfather before."

Max had never realized until that moment just how much Devlin had suffered before joining them. Again, Max wondered if there had ever been a part of Kevin that was like that—just so desperate for a family and acceptance that he would have killed or changed himself into anything for it. Maybe that had been the root of his sociopathic tendencies, desperation and loneliness and hurt and even fear. Would things be different now if Kevin had only joined them back then?

There was no real way of knowing.

Max sighed heavily, took some frozen squid out of the freezer and began to cook.

…

Ben flopped down in his empty bed, stretching out to soothe his aching muscles and exhausted from a day's hard work in the city. He had just made his rounds on his budding family before turning in for the night. He peeked in on little Gwendolyn, sleeping soundly in her bedroom with her favorite stuffed cat clutched to her chest. He had put Kenny back into his bed and covered him up, kissing his forehead—Kenny was a rough sleeper, just like his dad, often waking up on the floor the next morning, incredibly confused by how he had gotten there. Then, last, he had checked on Devlin. As usual, Devlin was still awake, lying there, pretending to sleep without breathing, but he didn't move as Ben fixed his blankets, whispered goodnight, and left the room.

Devlin was so strange.

The way he watched them sometimes was with such longing, but also with fear. It was as if he expected this dream of his to be torn away from him at any moment and Ben often saw him pressing at the bandage he always wore around his thigh. And old wound, he wondered?

But he already kind of knew.

He himself had a burn on his back from one of his battles with Kevin Levin. Ben had no doubt that the monster had hurt his own son as well, all in the attempt to get at Ben.

If it meant giving Devlin the family he so desired and some small happiness in this life, Ben would have given up the Omnitrix the moment he found it. Sure, he had saved a lot of people, but he had also greatly hurt Kevin who seemed hell-bent on hurting him in return and he didn't care who he stepped on to get his revenge, even if that meant his son. If Ben had never gotten the Omnitrix, Kevin would never have been trapped in a mutated monstrous form. Maybe then, he would have learned to use his powers better, never become a villain and been thrown into the Null Void countless times, and maybe he never would have left Devlin.

But Ben had no way of knowing if that's how it would have worked out. Instead, Kevin could have become a sociopath and a villain anyway and no one would have been there to stand in his way. He would have destroyed the world, destroyed the women he raped and impregnated, and probably even destroyed Devlin when his good-hearted son begged him to stop. Maybe it was best that Ben was there with the Omnitrix each time to throw Kevin back into the prison dimension. Maybe it was best that Ben was there to save his sweet innocent son. Maybe, maybe, maybe… Gwen always said that Ben was so arrogant, arrogant enough to take the weight of the world on his shoulders and try to make everything better.

Sometimes, things just were and nothing would change them.

Once in a while, when he saw Devlin nervously looking at him, Ben worried that Devlin was still working for Kevin. But then he saw Devlin with Kenny, laughing and smiling, and surreptitiously watching over young Gwen and he knew that could never be true. Devlin was a Tennyson now, maybe not by blood, but by family, just like a lot of other people. Ben would never let him go back to Kevin or let anyone hurt the boy. As far as he was concerned, Devlin was his son now.

"Bite me, Kevin," he said to the empty bedroom.

Taking in Devlin had torn the last sinuous threads of Ben's marriage to Kai, even after Max talked her into it, but it was worth it. He and Kai had been on the rocks long before that, pretending everything was alright between then for the sake of their children.

He loved Kai, but she just didn't love him the right way.

She loved the Omnitrix and his powers, but he always felt like a pet or a lab rat around her. She was always watching him, testing him, experimenting in little ways, thinking he didn't know. In a way, he was happy to be rid of her, but in another, he missed her. He missed her warmth in their bed.

But taking in Devlin was worth it, even at the cost of his marriage. No doubt, it was worth it.

…

Sometimes, Gwendolyn worried about her cousin.

Ben's heart was just way too big for his chest. What was he thinking taking in his arch enemy's child? But then again, she was so proud of him. Ben had matured a lot since marrying his childhood crush, Kai Green, and starting a family.

Ben and Gwen were still close—he was her confidant and she was his—so she knew all about his failing marriage, but there was no doubt in her mind that Ben was a family man. He loved his children and would die to save them a thousand times over. He had come a long way from the wild and goofy kid who first found the Omnitrix and then started a massive forest fire by accident. Though the Omnitrix still chose to disobey him every so often to keep him humble, he had mastered it.

Now, she was proud of her cousin for recognizing that Devlin was not Kevin and tossing him into the Null Void after his father like anyone else would have done. Once again offering the family he had offered Kevin to the child, his offer was finally accepted with gratitude.

That was all Devlin was, after all, just a sweet child who had never known a family or even a bed of his own. With all he had been through over the years living on the streets and been put through by Kevin, it was a wonder Devlin hadn't turned out just like his twisted sociopathic father.

She sighed, feeling her magic and power in her veins, wishing she was home with her family and Ben's. She missed them and she wanted to meet Devlin in person.

Once, a while ago, Gwen had traveled into the Null Void to speak with Kevin. It was her greatest secret from Ben and her only one. Every day, it ate at her—not that she had gone or was even keeping a secret, but what a monster Kevin Levin was!

It was almost as if he wasn't even human anymore.

When she finally found him, he had been devouring smaller aliens and not just devouring them, but destroying them like sand beneath his feet. She had stopped him with her powers, holding him immobile, and just stared into his face. He was so far gone, just a ravenous beast fixated on taking revenge and hurting everyone else around him. She wasn't even sure the word sociopath covered what his tortured mind was afflicted with.

She knew that her Grandpa Max and Ben still wondered if things would have turned out differently had Kevin joined their family, but Gwen knew the truth.

No, it wouldn't have.

Kevin was a monster and that was all.

She only thanked the Heavens that they had saved Devlin from him before it was too late.

…

Kenny couldn't sleep.

He was worried about his brother. Well, Devlin wasn't really his brother, but it was close enough, right? Lately, Devlin had been worrying him, not because he suspected another betrayal or anything of the sort. It was just… sometimes, he saw Devlin looking at Ben with such longing, especially when Ben stooped to hug Kenny or Gwen, but Devlin never asked to be touched or hugged. In fact, he never asked for anything. He was just there, as if he thought this would break apart at the seams if he spoke.

Kenny was ten and he knew he could handle everything on his own—he was big enough now and he had ten aliens in his Omnitrix!—but something told him that he should talk to his dad about this first. Dads could make everything better, especially Ben.

So, Kenny got out of bed and padded down the hall to his parents' bedroom, even though he knew his mother wasn't in there. He didn't have to knock, just entered with a whisper of, "Dad?"

Ben looked up from the book he was absently reading. It was something Gwen had sent him about dealing with adopted children, but it wasn't really helping. Devlin was different from everything the book described. "Kenny, what is it?" he asked.

"I'm worried about Devlin," Kenny said softly and crawled into his father's lap.

"Why?" Ben asked, hugging his son's small warm body. "Did something happen?"

"No, it's just… I think he's really sad…"

Ben hugged his son tighter. He was such a sweet kid. "He has a lot to be sad about, Kenny, just give him some time."

Kenny was quiet a moment, thinking. Then, he whispered, "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Is Devlin your son now?"

Ben pondered a few seconds, never one to lie to his children when they asked him something flat-out, and then nodded. "Yes, he is."

"Well, I think you should tell Devlin that. I don't think he knows," Kenny murmured. Then, he hugged Ben tightly, bid him goodnight, and left. Once he curled back up in his bed, he fell immediately to sleep, trashed around, and wound up on the floor, still soundly sleeping and even smiling faintly.

…

Ben thought about what Kenny had said for only a moment. Then, he threw on his robe and got out of bed. He peeked in on Gwen who was sleeping soundly and peacefully as usual, like a little doll tucked neatly into her bed. Kenny was, of course, on the floor again in a snarl of covers. Ben straightened him out.

Then, he went to Devlin's room.

Devlin was, as usual, lying beneath the covers, pretending to be asleep. His body was a small thin lump beneath the thick covers, his dark hair spreading across the pillow, holding his breath so that he was absolutely still and completely giving himself away because of it.

This time, Ben fixed the covers and then sat down on the edge of the bed. "You know," he began, smiling as Devlin jolted, "if you want to successfully fake sleep, you have to breathe."

Devlin rolled over immediately, his blue eyes gleaming in the dimness of the room. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Ben smoothed the covers. "Why?"

"I didn't mean to lie to you, I just…" He looked away.

Ben sighed. "Devlin," but he couldn't think of anything else to say.

'_Actions speak louder than words,'_ Grandpa Max always said.

'_Just do it, you blockhead,'_ Gwen often shouted at him. _'As if you ever look before you leap!'_

Ben brushed some of Devlin's dark hair off his forehead and kissed him gently. "Goodnight, son," he murmured. He heard Devlin stop breathing abruptly, a gasp caught in his thin chest, but fluffed the pillow and started to leave the room. Surely, Devlin would need some time to think about all this.

"Really?" Devlin said suddenly.

Ben stopped in the threshold. "Yes. Of course."

Those blue eyes were the color of the ocean itself, so hopeful and bright. "Me?"

Ben nodded, smiling. "You're one of my kids now, Devlin, which means you're stuck with me."

Devlin's eyes welled up with tears and Ben's heart nearly broke. Devlin had really been suffering, hadn't he? This was something he so desperately wanted, but thought he could never have. Ben crossed the room and hugged Devlin tightly, just holding the child as he cried softly and silently. When he was exhausted and cried out, Ben tucked him back into bed.

"Goodnight, Devlin, son," he murmured.

Devlin, drowsy, but smiling, whispered, "Goodnight, Dad…"

Ben's heart warmed.

X X X

(1) In the Alternate timeline, Ben does have a daughter named Gwen so I didn't make that up. She was in the episode Ken 10, the girl in the blue dress with the dark hair while Kenny was opening his presents.

Man, I really miss cartoons like Ben 10. The junk they put out nowadays is just awful. The animation is scary and there's no epic plot anymore. I miss Teen Titans and Static Shock and Hey Arnold all the other good ones that aren't around anymore. Who's with me?

Wow, there was hardly any dialogue in there.

Also, please, check out my first ORIGINAL NOVEL! The Breaking of Poisonwood by **Paradise Avenger**. (Summary: People were dead. When Skye Davis bought me at a slave auction as a birthday present for his brother, I had no idea what my new life was going to be like, but I had never expected _this_. It all started when Venus de Luna was killed and I was to take her place, to become the new savior… Then, bad things happened and some people died. In the heart of the earth, we discovered the ancient being that Frank Davis had found and created and used to his advantage. The _Poisonwood_—)

Questions, comments, concerns?

Please, _**REVIEW!**_


End file.
